Chapter 156: Holy War for Creatures – 2

Chapter 156: Holy War for Creatures – 2

“Honestly…… I have nothing to say but ‘amazing,’ truly.”

“Somehow, I ended up fighting the Demon King’s Army for my life.”

“So why did the idea of fighting their forces come about when the Demon King wouldn’t listen and sent troops? Don’t people usually just retreat?”

“…Because I’d scammed the Demon King into thinking I was a Hero.”

At that, the Saintess’s expression changed to one that said, ‘What kind of person is this?’

It was the first time I’d seen such an expression from the Saintess, who always wore a warm look.

…The more detailed reason was that I judged I wouldn’t be able to persuade the Demon King if not now, but she didn’t seem to believe that either.

*’Indeed, even to me, who has journeyed with you, you don’t seem entirely sane, Hero.’*

“…I’d rather not hear that from you, you know?”

Well, it took a lot longer for the Saintess’s sermon about cherishing my body more, and the Holy Sword’s subtly interjected remarks, to end.

Only after that long wait could I share the stories I originally intended to share with the Saintess, including the newly acquired divine arts.

As expected of the Saintess, who was already at the pinnacle of divine power manipulation, she learned the new divine arts very quickly.

The Holy Sword was both bewildered and amazed that the Saintess learned divine arts so quickly, which had taken it a long time to devise.

When you think about it, the ‘Opposing Divine Arts,’ which had now changed to ‘Lucia-style Divine Arts,’ was originally devised by the Holy Sword, so I guess it made sense.

From my perspective, where the system just literally clicked and granted me the ability, I only thought it was good to learn it quickly.

“……It’s wondrous. I never knew divine power could be handled this way.”

“Right? Even if it feels a bit alien, it works normally. And using it can prevent the god from directly interfering with you.”

“It seems there can be various variations within divine power itself. Even if I can’t use all of them, I think I can use about two.”

My divine arts, as she said, had four variations: Vampirism, Fortitude, Necromancy, and Ruin. So she probably meant she could use two of them…

It seemed highly likely to be Fortitude and Necromancy.

Honestly, I’d love to see Saintess-nim use the Ruin type and destroy the entire battlefield, but since she’s primarily focused on healing and blessings, I doubt that would be easy.

“……I never dreamed I’d turn my back on God like this, but such a day has finally come.”

“It’s because the god described by the church and the real god are too different from the start.”

“Exactly. The savior of humanity, our hope, the reason we can live…… We believed that, and that’s why we could follow. No matter if he’s the creator, we can revere a god who sees humanity as nothing more than tools or sacrifices for himself, we can fear him, but we can’t truly worship him.”

As the Saintess and I were discussing plans to reveal this truth to the Holy Kingdom and overturn it, a familiar presence was felt in front of the prison.

…It was the Hero, looking very tired, as if she’d been through a lot.

***

“You, you…! I told you to give me back my Holy Sword!”

“Oh, sorry, I really needed it. Here.”

I threw the Holy Sword, and the Hero caught it, but the Holy Sword wasn’t settling properly in her arms, as if it didn’t want to go.

The Hero went quiet for a moment again, which suggested it was saying something.

After a short while, it seemed the Hero had grasped the situation, perhaps because the Holy Sword had explained it well.

*’I briefly explained only the important things. I’ll stick with you and slowly teach you about the new divine arts and such, so there’s no need to worry.’*

“……Uh, uh-huh. No need to worry.”

…In the Hero’s eyes, as she said that, there was a hint of an inexplicable fear.

It was like seeing some kind of unbeatable monster…?

It was exactly the same look she had when I first met her and beat her up at the Holy Sword’s request.

“But… did you really take down this Holy Sword grandpa and the entire Demon King’s Army by yourself…?”

“Ah, is that why? I didn’t kill the Demon King, but I did annihilate the Demon King’s Army, right?”

*’Strictly speaking, one legion commander who agreed to cooperate and the Demon King were spared, and the rest were annihilated. That’s how it was.’*

“……You’re human, right?”

However, there was no one here to entertain the Hero’s grumbling.

The Saintess, from the start, had been lecturing me more about getting hurt than about such things, and the Holy Sword had witnessed the entire process.

In truth, it was only possible to win thanks to the Holy Sword’s immense buffs, the system’s corrections, and the rewards granted in between.

It suddenly struck me how pathetic this Hero was for not being able to properly utilize such strong Holy Sword buffs… Ah, never mind.

And so, completely ignoring the Hero, who was muttering beside us, the Holy Sword, I, and the Saintess continued to discuss the upcoming task.

The date was decided to be as soon as possible, starting tomorrow, by subtly informing trustworthy people about the god’s truth and recruiting those who would join us.

“…Excuse me? Uh, I’m sorry to interrupt your hard work, but…?”

“What is it this time?”

“Do you know what day tomorrow is when you say that?”

“Tomorrow? What day is it?”

However, unlike my ‘what nonsense is she spouting now?’ reaction, the Holy Sword and Saintess reacted as if they knew something.

Well, is it really the Pope’s birthday or something?

However, an answer quite far from my thoughts flowed from the Hero’s mouth.

“……You know tomorrow is our Creation Day, right?”

“Creation Day?”

“It’s the day the god created the world, and a major holiday across the continent…? Oh, in some regions, they call it Christmas, meaning the birth of this holy world.”

……From her explanation, it seemed to be a holiday with a similar status to Christmas in my original world.

Because of it, people sang hymns and praised the god everywhere.

From what I heard, it seemed to be an important holiday in the Holy Kingdom, to the extent that the Saintess was temporarily released for festivals and commemorative prayers, and also a continent-wide holiday.

And we, who were planning to subtly reveal the god’s truth starting tomorrow, suddenly became the ones who would expose the god’s true nature on such a holiday.

Considering that those who heard the truth would instantly find the festival turning into a bed of thorns… Hmm……

“Is this, okay…?”

“Historically, there’s an anecdote that even soldiers from two warring nations enjoyed sports together on this day…”

*’Hoo… While the god, from our current perspective, is indeed a menace, this day commemorates not the god, but the creation of the world, so this is truly…’*

“Even if they’re not people who follow the god, since it’s a continent-wide holiday, there must be many events, will it be okay? It’s about disparaging the god, so it should be fine, but……”

…For a moment, I recalled a scene from Christmas where someone shouted, ‘God doesn’t exist, so why are you enjoying this stupid day!’

It was something I experienced in my original world, and at the time, I was simply annoyed, but I don’t remember his grand logic really registering with me.

Even though I didn’t particularly follow any religion, I even thought the church, which demanded offerings and prayers in the name of God, was better.

……And it didn’t seem like we would be any different. Although there was a difference in that we would be quietly telling a small number of people, still……

“Oh! And anyway, it seems there will be almost no one we can contact tomorrow because the Pope is holding a ‘Faith Unification Event’.”

“Then… we’ll really have to postpone it by a day.”

*’Originally, I expected to gather allies for about three days, but the schedule will be a bit tighter now.

Oh, by the way, you are automatically with us. If you say you won’t do it here, we’ll have no choice but to silence you, so please understand.’*

“……Why am I always in a position with no choice? Wasn’t I, like, Hero?”

As the Hero pondered and lamented how her situation had come to this, the Saintess spoke to her.

Unlike her serious expression from earlier, she had a rather playful look.

However, when she was about to speak, she seemed embarrassed, and after just twitching her lips, she asked in a small voice,

“…This plan, you know, do you happen to have a name for it?”

“Huh? A name?”

“Why, for operations like this, there’s usually a cool name… attached, isn’t there…?”

Judging by how her voice got softer and softer as she spoke, she seemed embarrassed even while saying it.

Perhaps our Saintess-nim had a romanticized idea about such operations.

I just thought calling it something simple like ‘Holy Kingdom Rebellion’ would be fine… but looking at the Saintess’s expression, it seemed she had something prepared.

“Do you have anything in mind?”

“Well… um…… How about ‘Holy War for Creatures’?”

“…Pff, pfft.”

She seemed a little embarrassed herself after saying it, and the Saintess closed her mouth.

She seemed to be trying to make it sound impressive, but instead of impressive, it just sounded very straightforward.

But… I didn’t particularly dislike it. It was true, after all.

“Ugh… Really, forget it…”

“Then, let’s go with that.”

“Oh, oh?”

“We’re not fighting for a god, but… well, it’s related to a god, so it’s a holy war, right?”

…However, even though I tried to speak calmly, the Saintess caught me holding back laughter, and I suddenly had to appease our sulking Saintess-nim.

No, honestly, what am I supposed to do when the Saintess, who usually wouldn’t do such a thing, acts like that? It’s just funny!

And so, after the conversations with the Saintess, the Holy Sword, and Hero ended, and I returned home, the long schedule concluded.

It was truly…… a day where many things had happened, and many things would begin.